A gentle place to gather strength

Looking Back on March

“The practice of paying attention serves as an anchor for the soul in a fast-moving world.” Emily P. Freeman

Each month I have been taking time to look back before moving forward. This idea came from Emily P. Freeman, who I will be linking up with! Here are four reflections from the month of March:

A Bend in the Road:February 3rd I wrote a blog post about when your path narrows or turns; as if to foreshadow what I had no idea would happen the next month. March began with some magic. New opportunities seemed to blossom from the barren winter branches; some dreams realized. As the month continued the opportunities led to deep and hard work. For example, out of nowhere family friends called us and asked us if we would like to buy their home in a lovely neighborhood for an unbelievable price. We of course accepted the offer, but packing up and moving is not easy. Plus, the home will need tons of renovation. So now as March is coming to a close, I continue to feel an even deeper need for God to help me. It is one thing to begin a journey with excitement, and another to be trudging through the forest not yet at the half way point and feel like taking a break. That is just a little bit of how this month has felt to me.

Voxer and Trello: I started using two new apps this month.

Voxer is an app used to “Bridge the distance” and “combines the power of live voice with text, video and photo sharing.” It’s a lot like a walkie-talkie. I had to learn to use it this month to meet and get to know some amazing writers and artists. It was such a privilege listening to these women share their ideas on Voxer, but unnerving and kind of dreadful having to talk on it myself! I did it though! So I learned I very much prefer talking with people in person. I am so thankful for Voxer though, and the opportunity it allowed me this month.

Trello is an app I started using this month for organizing ideas and outlines for writing a book or a blog series. It has been so easy to learn. “Open a card and you can add comments, upload file attachments, create checklists, add labels and due dates, and more.”

Soft Edges, Strong Core: This month I looked up the definition for “gentle” in Merriam Webster’s Dictionary and the simple definition actually defined it as “not strong”, which yes gentleness may seem that way in a sense but I believe it is carries such strength. I also read the book Love Kindness this month. I loved the way the author describes kindness as a having soft edges and a strong core. I think gentleness is similar. The filter I try to use for this blog is one of gentleness. I believe gentleness is strong, and it’s effects are strong. The book Love Kindness reaffirmed and put words on this idea for me.

Instagram Accounts and Blogs:I love finding new instagram accounts to follow. This month I started following two instagram accounts and blogs that I find to be full of gentleness and I wanted to share them with you.

myorangepocket: Anjuli from California shares beautiful photos and creates a safe place for the honesty of one’s inner voice to come out. Barry H Corey writes in his book Love Kindness that “a firm center and soft edges means we are creators of goodness and beauty.”

“If God is the author of all things beautiful, we become his fragrance as we fan the flames of imagination and invest in the many arts; written, culinary, spoken, visual, dance, digital, and on we go. This is the way of kindness.” –Love Kindness, Barry H. Corey-

Anjuli shares kindness through her beautiful instagram photos. She also has a blog if you want to learn more about her at She Speaks In Orange .

FierceBeagle: Erin K. Etheridge is a writer and mom from North Carolina. She is so funny!!! Laughter is a great medicine, and brings a lightness/levity to life like gentleness does. Her bold Irish humor combined with her tender heart is great! Her blog erinketheridge.com kind of has a “funny farm feel” to it, and is filled with faith and hope too. This instagram post of hers has to be my favorite post of the month. I don’t know how she managed to capture the bee buzzing around her hat.